The Elf Who Stayed
by withywindle
Summary: Millenia has passed and Middle Earth is now a lot like our world. One elf stayed... Sorry about the stupid title... Not going to be a Legolas or (if I can avoid it, and I will try) a Mary Sue, there isn't much yet, but pls r/r!!
1. Middle Earth

***Just a prologueish thing***

Clearly, I do not own Middle Earth, any of Tolkien's character's etc. But sort of do own my version of modern day ME (ooh I own a continent!!)

Miröwen was an Elf, originally of the realm of Imladris. She had long been a friend both to Elessar and Gandalf, and in the years after Bilbo had left Bag End, she had, at the Ranger's request, diligently kept watch over the Shire. Though she was one of the High Elves, kin to Glorfindel, she had never asserted her place as an Elf of any influence, or even stayed long in Rivendell. She did not care for the company of other elves, instead preferring to wander alone in the vast wilderness of Middle Earth. She did however, find the habits of Hobbits and Men endlessly interesting. During the war of the Ring, she had tirelessly protected the lives of the innocent, in the Shire, Bree, and Rohan. 

After Sauron was defeated and peace settled over the land, Miröwen lived for awhile in Gondor and Ithilien. Many years passed, and Aragorn died. Frodo and Gandalf, along with the Elves of Middle Earth, passed into the west. 

But Miröwen stayed, unable to part herself from the land and peoples she had watched over for thousands of years. For many more years Mirowen wandered under the diminishing trees. She witnessed the light fade out of the Elven realms. The Mallorn trees died, Eryn Lasgalen became once again dark and overgrown, and even to Mirowen, the valley of Imladris became increasingly elusive and hard to locate. She watched as the forests of Fangorn, Ithilien, Lothlorien, and the Old Forest, shrank to mere woods, remnants of their former size and greatness. And then only sadness and regret filled the heart of Miröwen, and the forests and peoples of Middle Earth looked only like shadows of their former glory. Then, while wandering deep in the heart of the once Golden Wood, Miröwen sat with her back against a tree, laid her sword across her lap, closed her eyes, and went to sleep. 

Miröwen slept for millennia, reliving, in her mind, her life since she first awoke. While she slept, the continent of Middle Earth changed. It's cities fell, and it's  people died out. Mountain ranges were battered by wind and rain until they were only hills, great rivers turned into trickling streams, and little brooks overflowed their banks. No more did Mearas run over plains, or Great Eagles rule the skies. Then people spread across the land like ants, ripping and shredding at the earth with an irreverence they had never shown in the past. Roads of concrete scarred the land, and the air grew black and foul. And through all this Miröwen slept, and the glade surrounding her remained unchanged. 

Then one day something did change. 


	2. Awakening

            Miröwen was walking though the lush gardens of Rivendell  with King Elessar, and Arwen, his Queen. The moon was full, and the two elves were talking, while the King walked silently behind. All was peaceful, and for the first time, Miröwen did not feel confined by the elvish city. 

            Then suddenly Miröwen was crouched behind the smouldering wall of a burning barn. An army of Orcs and Wildmen were swarming through the little village in the Westfold. Men, women, and children were running in for their lives. A loose horse, reins trailing dangerously between it's forelegs, careened past Miröwen and into a group of fleeing Rohirrim. Many horses and men lay dead or dying upon the ground, hearts and necks pierced with the poison arrows of the Wildmen. In the midst of all the chaos Miröwen's eyes landed upon a woman and her two children. One of the children had fallen, and the mother stopped and was going back for her. Unnoticed by the woman, an Orc had also spotted the helpless child, and was swiftly bearing down on her, intent on killing them both. Miröwen loosed an arrow into the beasts neck, and then two more into it's chest, but it kept running. Miröwen leapt up, sword drawn, and sprinted towards the child, but the Orc reached her first, and killed the mother and child before her eyes. 

            Then Miröwen was standing amidst fallen buildings that had once been Hobbiton. The scene was similar to what had just passed in the Westfold. Again she arrived seconds too late to save a life, this time of a young hobbit boy. The reek of blood and smoke filled her nostrils and Miröwen swayed, and the earth spun. Long fingers of darkness crept across her vision, until the world around her went black. The screams rose to a piercing wail of just one voice. 

A shudder ran up the length of her spine and Miröwen opened her eyes. 


End file.
